Course Proposal Process

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A course proposal is not a complete course syllabus with a week-by-week outline of topics, assignments, readings, grading standards, etc. Rather it is a proposal – an idea for a course that is fleshed out enough for reviewers to ask questions and make informed decisions about whether or not the proposal should become a fully developed course. The person submitting the course proposal may or may not be the person who ends up teaching it. A course proposal should stand on its own merits, so the name of the proposer is not revealed to the reviewers.

Here is the process:

  1. The course proposal form is available here.
  2. The proposer fills out the course proposal form and sends the course proposal to the Curriculum and Program Development Committee (CPDC) co-chairs (Dr. Linda Main and Dr. Sue Alman).
  3. The Course Learning Outcomes Worksheet may be useful to use as you develop the course proposal.
  4. The Curriculum and Program Development Committee (CPDC) reviews the proposal; the proposal may be sent by the committee co-chairs to faculty specialists in the area for further review.
  5. The CPDC co-chairs gather all the reviewers’ comments and forward them to the course proposer for revisions, if needed.
  6. If the CPDC and the faculty specialists support the proposal (after revisions, if needed), then the next step is for the CPDC to recommend it to the entire faculty by moving the proposal to the consent agenda for the next faculty retreat (recognizing that any item on the consent agenda may be removed should one of the faculty wish to do so for further discussion or clarification).
  7. If the committee does not support the proposal, the co-chairs will determine whether to place the lack of support on the consent agenda or place the item for debate on the regular agenda.
  8. Once a course proposal is approved by consent at a faculty retreat, it goes to the Associate Director for inclusion in the schedule as works best.

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